Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(47)

They’d split up into three teams of six. Gray, Allye, Carrie, Violet, Lacie, and Ball were on one team. Ro, Chloe, Julia, Jasper, Harlow, and Black were on another. And Arrow, Morgan, Loretta, Edward, Ann, and Sue were on the last.

Black knew that his friends would let the others on their teams do most of the work, as they were all very good at this sort of thing. They’d only step in if their teams got stuck.

When Harlow didn’t answer his question, Black nudged her and asked again, “Why aren’t you sure about this?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He stepped behind her and put his hands on her hips. Then he leaned in and said in her ear, “Just relax and have fun. This is supposed to be fun, you know.”

“Why do I feel so nervous then?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

Black was having a very hard time keeping his feelings for Harlow to himself. He’d gone over to the shelter that afternoon and walked into the middle of controlled chaos. The kids were in the kitchen “helping” her make dinner, but causing more work for Harlow than anything else. Loretta had been assisting Bethany and Carrie with job applications; they were trying to find something more lucrative than the fast-food restaurants they were currently working at. Sue and Lisa were on their phones, and the others were all hanging around, talking and laughing.

Instead of looking frazzled, Harlow had taken everything in stride, as usual, stopping to compliment the children on something they’d done well, and even giving Kristen a hug as she passed.

The woman was always “on.” Always helping someone else. Black felt tired simply watching her. But he loved that about her. Loved that she was so friendly and open. He liked her sunny disposition.

He’d never met anyone who could just keep going and going and going . . . and be super friendly the entire time.

“There’s no need to be nervous. We can’t actually be trapped in the room because someone is watching through cameras the entire time. Even though there’s an hour time limit, I have no doubt we’ll figure out the clues and get out of there before then.”

“It’s not that. It’s just . . .”

“What, Harl?”

Her vanilla scent was making him think about other things, intimate things, and Black struggled to pay attention to what she was saying.

“I just want Jasper to have a good time. I want him to feel successful at this. He’s had such a hard time with his dad leaving and living in the shelter. He still hasn’t opened up very much.”

Black’s heart melted. She was always thinking about others.

“I promise he’ll love this. I have no doubt he’ll get into it and be a pro at finding the clues. But if for some reason he isn’t, I’ll help steer him in the right direction.”

“Have you done this before?”

Black nodded. “Yeah. Not this exact room, but ones like it.”

She turned to face him, either not realizing that his hands were still on her hips or not caring. She grabbed hold of his sleeves and said, “I bet these are boring for you and your friends, huh? You guys do this sort of thing for a living. Or you did when you were in the military.”

He smirked. “Not boring. I could never be bored when I’m around you, Harlow.”

She blushed, and he liked seeing how easily he could affect her. Her blue eyes sparkled with an emotion he couldn’t read. She licked her lips, and Black had to force himself to not lean into her and take them with his own.

It was official. He was obsessed.

“I like your friends’ girlfriends,” Harlow said, breaking the eye contact and looking across the room where they were standing.

“They’re likable people,” Black told her.

“I mean, it’s not like I thought I wouldn’t like them, but I wasn’t sure what to say to Morgan. I’m so glad she’s okay, and she looks great. Don’t you think she looks great? I have no idea how she got through what she did. And Allye is beautiful. I hadn’t heard about what happened to her, I don’t watch a lot of national news, but I love her hair. That white streak is so unique. Her eyes are super cool too. I can’t believe that guy targeted her because of such simple things. That’s crazy! And I think Chloe and I seem a lot alike. We’re the same age and height and even have the same body type. Oh, I wanted to ask her if she might give Loretta some advice. You said she works with money, right?”

Harlow’s comment reminded him that he needed to talk to Rex and have him look into Loretta’s money situation. Meat had taken a cursory look into her accounts early on and found nothing amiss. But it couldn’t hurt to check again, and Meat had more than enough on his plate at the moment. It was possible the credit card she’d given Harlow and Zoe hadn’t worked for some clerical reason, but he needed to make sure.

“She doesn’t officially counsel people on investments and stuff anymore, but I’m sure she’d be willing to help,” he told Harlow.

“Oh, then maybe I shouldn’t bother her. I don’t want to bring back any bad memories or anything.”

Black had told Harlow the basics about the three women she’d met tonight. She’d already known about Morgan; everyone knew that the woman had been kidnapped and held against her will in the Caribbean for a year. Her father had made sure that no one forgot his child was missing.